Pacific Jumping Mice are remarkably quick and unpredictable. They push off with both hind feet and land on both forefeet, apparently using the tail for balance--a Mouse who had lost its tail somersaulted trying to land. These Mice are found mostly in streamside or wet-meadow habitats, often within forests. Grass seeds comprise more than half their diet. The Mice cut grass stems, leaving neat piles of stalks, to get at the seeds. They also eat fungi, fruit, insects, and even mollusks and fish. Owls and other evening or nighttime predators, including foxes, coyotes, snakes, weasels, skunks, and bobcats, hunt them.

Also known as:
Point Reyes Jumping Mouse, Coast Jumping Mouse

Length:
Range:
211-250 mm

Weight:
Range:
20-30 g

References:

Rhoads, S.N., 1894. A new jumping mouse from the pacific slope, p. 421. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 46:421-422.